# trilemma
## English
### Etymology

The word is modelled on dilemma, with di- (“two, twice, double”) replaced by tri- (“three”).

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA: /tɹaɪˈlɛmə/
** Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɛmə
* Hyphenation: tri‧lem‧ma

### Noun

trilemma (plural trilemmas)
* A circumstance in which a choice must be made between three options that seem equally undesirable.
** 1853 March, “Article I. The Mode of Baptism.”, in The True Baptist, volume I, number 3, Jackson, Miss.: Published by the editor, →OCLC, page 76:With all these dilemmas and trilemmas crowding the mind, if one did not know better, one might be tempted to doubt whether any such versions were ever made at all.
* A situation in which a choice must be made among three desirable options, only two of which are possible at the same time.
** 2004 March, Maurice Obstfeld, Jay C. Shambaugh, Alan M. Taylor, “The Trilemma in History: Tradeoffs among Exchange Rates, Monetary Policies, and Capital Mobility”, in Econometrics Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley‎, →OCLC, archived from the original on 12 August 2017, page 1:At the most general level, policymakers in open economies face a macroeconomic trilemma: 1. to stabilize the exchange rate; 2. to enjoy free international capital mobility; 3. to engage in a monetary policy oriented toward domestic goals. Because only two out of the three objectives can be mutually consistent, policymakers must decide which one to give up.
** 2018 April 18, Stephen Farry, Sorcha Eastwood, “Good Friday Agreement: why it matters in Brexit”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), ukandeu.ac.uk:The UK government has forced itself into a trilemma in which it has adopted three positions, only two of which can be achieved at any one time: to avoid a hard border within the island of Ireland; for the UK as whole to leave both the customs union and the single market; and to rule out any special arrangements for Northern Ireland in relation to a customs union and single market.
** 2023 June 2, Charles Xie, “Trilemma Trade-Offs: A New CAP Theorem For Vector Databases Has Emerged”, Forbes Technology Council, in Forbes‎, Forbes Media, archived from the original on 2023-06-06:In computing, the unconquerable trilemma is embodied in the well-known CAP theorem for distributed systems, also called Brewer’s CAP theorem. This states that any distributed database can only attain two of three guarantees: consistency, availability and partition tolerance.
* (logic) An argument containing three alternatives, jointly exhaustive either under any condition(s) or under all condition(s) consistent with the universe of discourse of that argument, that each imply the same conclusion.
** 1851, [James William Gilbart], Logic for the Million: A Familiar Exposition of the Art of Reasoning, London: Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans, →OCLC, part IV (The Points of Reasoning), section V (Reasoning by Compound Syllogism), subsection III (The Trilemma), page 324:It has been remarked as a characteristic of the late Sir Robert Peel, that in introducing his measures to the House of Commons, he often used the trilemma. "Three courses are before us—to go backward, to stand still, to go forward. We cannot go backward; we cannot stand still; we must, then, go forward."
** 1862 July 1, “Art. VII.—(1.) Kirche und Kirchen, Papstthum und Kirchenstaat. Historisch-politische Bertrachtungen von Joh. Jos. Ign. v. Döllinger. Zweiter unveränderter Abdruck. München: 1861. (2.) The Church and the Churches; or, The Papacy and The Temporal Power. An Historical and Political Review. By Dr. Döllinger. Translated by William Bernard MacCabe. London: 1862.”, in The British Quarterly Review, volume XXXVI, number LXXI, London: Jackson, Walford, & Hodder 18, St. Paul's Churchyard and Simpkin, Marshall and Co., Stationers' Hall Court; Edinburgh: W. Oliphant & Co.; Glasgow: J[ames] MacLehose; Dublin: J. Robertson, →OCLC, page 156:And in anticipation of it, while he [Johann Joseph Ignaz von Döllinger] declares at one moment that it would be profane to limit Divine Providence to an alternative, he affirms in the next that there can be no harm whatever in shutting it up to a supposed exhaustive trilemma.

#### Coordinate terms

* dilemma (two options)
* tetralemma (four options)
* polylemma

#### Derived terms

* Agrippa's trilemma
* Lewis's trilemma
* Münchhausen trilemma
* trilemmatic

#### Related terms

* lemma

#### References

* ↑ "Trilemma" at Oxford English Dictionary
* ↑ "Trilemma" at Merriam-Webster

### Further reading

* trilemma on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

## Finnish
### Etymology

From English trilemma.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈtrilemːɑ/, [ˈt̪rile̞mːɑ̝]
* Rhymes: -ilemːɑ
* Hyphenation: tri‧lem‧ma

### Noun

trilemma
* trilemma

#### Declension

Possessive forms of trilemma (Kotus type 9/kala, no gradation) :
first-person singular possessor
singular
plural
nominative
trilemmani
trilemmani
accusative
nom.
trilemmani
trilemmani
gen.
trilemmani
genitive
trilemmani
trilemmojeni trilemmaini $^{rare}$
partitive
trilemmaani
trilemmojani
inessive
trilemmassani
trilemmoissani
elative
trilemmastani
trilemmoistani
illative
trilemmaani
trilemmoihini
adessive
trilemmallani
trilemmoillani
ablative
trilemmaltani
trilemmoiltani
allative
trilemmalleni
trilemmoilleni
essive
trilemmanani
trilemmoinani
translative
trilemmakseni
trilemmoikseni
abessive
trilemmattani
trilemmoittani
instructive
comitative
—trilemmoineni
second-person singular possessor
singular
plural
nominative
trilemmasi
trilemmasi
accusative
nom.
trilemmasi
trilemmasi
gen.
trilemmasi
genitive
trilemmasi
trilemmojesi trilemmaisi $^{rare}$
partitive
trilemmaasi
trilemmojasi
inessive
trilemmassasi
trilemmoissasi
elative
trilemmastasi
trilemmoistasi
illative
trilemmaasi
trilemmoihisi
adessive
trilemmallasi
trilemmoillasi
ablative
trilemmaltasi
trilemmoiltasi
allative
trilemmallesi
trilemmoillesi
essive
trilemmanasi
trilemmoinasi
translative
trilemmaksesi
trilemmoiksesi
abessive
trilemmattasi
trilemmoittasi
instructive
comitative
—trilemmoinesi
first-person plural possessor
singular
plural
nominative
trilemmamme
trilemmamme
accusative
nom.
trilemmamme
trilemmamme
gen.
trilemmamme
genitive
trilemmamme
trilemmojemme trilemmaimme $^{rare}$
partitive
trilemmaamme
trilemmojamme
inessive
trilemmassamme
trilemmoissamme
elative
trilemmastamme
trilemmoistamme
illative
trilemmaamme
trilemmoihimme
adessive
trilemmallamme
trilemmoillamme
ablative
trilemmaltamme
trilemmoiltamme
allative
trilemmallemme
trilemmoillemme
essive
trilemmanamme
trilemmoinamme
translative
trilemmaksemme
trilemmoiksemme
abessive
trilemmattamme
trilemmoittamme
instructive
comitative
—trilemmoinemme
second-person plural possessor
singular
plural
nominative
trilemmanne
trilemmanne
accusative
nom.
trilemmanne
trilemmanne
gen.
trilemmanne
genitive
trilemmanne
trilemmojenne trilemmainne $^{rare}$
partitive
trilemmaanne
trilemmojanne
inessive
trilemmassanne
trilemmoissanne
elative
trilemmastanne
trilemmoistanne
illative
trilemmaanne
trilemmoihinne
adessive
trilemmallanne
trilemmoillanne
ablative
trilemmaltanne
trilemmoiltanne
allative
trilemmallenne
trilemmoillenne
essive
trilemmananne
trilemmoinanne
translative
trilemmaksenne
trilemmoiksenne
abessive
trilemmattanne
trilemmoittanne
instructive
comitative
—trilemmoinenne
third-person possessor
singular
plural
nominative
trilemmansa
trilemmansa
accusative
nom.
trilemmansa
trilemmansa
gen.
trilemmansa
genitive
trilemmansa
trilemmojensa trilemmainsa $^{rare}$
partitive
trilemmaansa
trilemmojaan trilemmojansa
inessive
trilemmassaan trilemmassansa
trilemmoissaan trilemmoissansa
elative
trilemmastaan trilemmastansa
trilemmoistaan trilemmoistansa
illative
trilemmaansa
trilemmoihinsa
adessive
trilemmallaan trilemmallansa
trilemmoillaan trilemmoillansa
ablative
trilemmaltaan trilemmaltansa
trilemmoiltaan trilemmoiltansa
allative
trilemmalleen trilemmallensa
trilemmoilleen trilemmoillensa
essive
trilemmanaan trilemmanansa
trilemmoinaan trilemmoinansa
translative
trilemmakseen trilemmaksensa
trilemmoikseen trilemmoiksensa
abessive
trilemmattaan trilemmattansa
trilemmoittaan trilemmoittansa
instructive
comitative
—trilemmoineen trilemmoinensa :